• 대한추나의학회지
• /
• 제3권1호
• /
• pp.97-109
• /
• 2002

Objectives : Electroacupuncture(EA) has been suggested as a treatment for stroke rehabilitation. But whether, how much, by what mechanism and when it is effective has not been answered satisfactorily. Therefore it is important to critically review clinical trials and laboratory researches about EA for stroke rehabilitation. Subjectives : We researched various recent sources of EA for stroke rehabilitation such as medical journals and especially tried to review methodologically best randomized controlled trials(RCTs). Results and Conclusions : 1) EA increases brain plasticity, activity, blood flow and secretion of neuropeptides in CNS. 2) EA is significantly effective at the case that more than half of the neural motor pathway is reserved. 3) The acupoints, frequncy and intensity of EA should be determined by patient-specific symptoms of stroke. 4) More studies is needed for merdian functions for stroke rehabilitation.

• 비만대사연구학술지
• /
• 제1권2호
• /
• pp.59-65
• /
• 2022

Obesity is a serious health concern, which has been linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and some cancers. The traditional obesity control program is expensive. Moreover, it is difficult to maintain a healthy body weight as well as reduce body fat. The long-term use of effective and tolerable medication is carefully recommended to control body weight. In addition to obesity control medications, health functional foods, related to body weight control, have become popular in the commercial market. Known mechanisms include lipolysis, appetite control, inflammation reduction, and lean body mass maintenance. Previous clinical trials have documented the efficacy of some health functional foods; however, there are limitations. Studies on the potential roles and efficacy of some health functional foods, including caffeine, green tea, protein supplement, probiotics, and arginine, were reviewed. More large-scale and randomized placebo-controlled trials should be conducted eventually.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
• /
• 제26권1호
• /
• pp.27-40
• /
• 2009

Background : Qigong is an energy-healing intervention used to prevent and cure ailments and to improve health through regular practice. Although qigong-neither itself nor its postulated mechanism of action-are within the paradigm of modern Western medical science, its effects on the human body could be possible. Objectives : This study aims to review the bibliography, biological responses and therapeutic effects of Qigong. In the process, this review will grasp trends in this field of studies and will direct further researches into the right direction. Method : The computerized Korean databases were searched from their respective inceptions up to January 2008. The search terms used were 'qi', 'qigong', 'doin', 'training', 'bioenergy', 'life nurturing' and random or Korean language terms related to qigong. Several specialized journals were also manually searched for relevant articles. Result : Since the 1990s, Qigong papers in the Korean Literature are increased. The articles on Korean traditional medicine had been published more than those on physical education or nursing etc. However, since the majority of the trials determine questionnaire, it was difficult to determine the efficacy of a specific intervention. The methodological quality of the trials was generally low (Jadad score: mean, 1.3; range, 1 to 4), questioning their reliability. Conclusions : More profound studies for Qigong are needed. Further rigorous clinical trials with more objective outcome measures that include sham procedures should be performed. Specifically, we think it should be clinical studies and qualitative research methods for evaluation are needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제15권14호
• /
• pp.5691-5696
• /
• 2014

Background: Many clinical trials have been conducted to evaluate sorafenib for the treatment of advanced NSCLC, but the results for efficacy have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of sorafenib in patients with advanced NSCLC in more detail by meta-analysis. Methods: This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed after searching PubMed, EMBASE, ASCO Abstracts, ESMO Abstracts, and the proceedings of major conferences for relevant clinical trials. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of the trials. Outcomes analysis were disease control rate (DCR), progression- free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and major toxicity. Subgroup analysis was conducted according to sorafenib monotherapy, in combination with chemotherapy or EGFR-TKI to investigate the preferred therapy strategy. Results: Results reported from 6 RCTs involving 2, 748 patients were included in the analysis. Compared to sorafenib-free group, SBT was not associated with higher DCR (RR 1.31 (0.96- 1.79), p=0.09), PFS (HR 0.82 (0.66-1.02), p=0.07) and OS (HR 1.01 (0.92-1.12), p=0.77). In terms of subgroup results, sorafenib monotherapy was associated with significant superior DCR and longer PFS, but failed to show advantage with regard to OS. Grade 3 or greater sorafenib-related adverse events included fatigue, hypertension, diarrhea, oral mucositis, rash and HFSR. Conclusions: SBT was revealed to yield no improvement in DCR, PFS and OS. However, sorafenib as monotherapy showed some activity in NSCLC. Further evaluation may be considered in subsets of patients who may benefit from this treatment. Sorafenib combined inhibition therapy should be limited unless the choice of platinum-doublet regimen, administration sequence or identification of predictive biomarkers are considered to receive better anti-tumor activity and prevention of resistance mechanisms.

• 척추신경추나의학회지
• /
• 제9권2호
• /
• pp.93-113
• /
• 2014

Objectives : This study aims to evaluate domestic/foreign clinical studies related to the traction therapy and analyse points to consider about cervical/lumbar traction therapy. Methods : Seven databases were searched for related articles about cervical/lumbar traction therapy from 1950 to 2014. Fourteen clinical studies and several systemic reviews were included among 144 studies searched. Out of fourteen clinical studies, four were case series and ten were controlled trials. Results : Most of included studies reported favorable effects of traction group compared to baseline of controlled group. The various mechanical factors most relevant to traction are 1) angle of pull and direction, 2) traction force, 3) duration of traction and frequency of treatment. Conclusions : We found various mistake in the applications of statistical methodologies of traction therapy targeting patients of cervical, lumbar vertebral disease. It is necessary for more randomized controlled trials to evaluate effect of cervical/lumbar traction therapy targeting patients of cervical, lumbar vertebral disease.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
• /
• 제29권1호
• /
• pp.78-91
• /
• 2016

Objectives: Breast cancer patients in Korea need to care about symptoms with complementary medicine including acupuncture. We reviewed the randomized controlled studies using acupuncture in breast cancer patients to establish a basic knowledge of clinical practice guidelines. Methods: We searched the following databases through July 2015: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid-Medline, Ovid-EMBASE, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Databases and OASIS. The articles of RCTs using acupuncture in breast cancer for all symptoms were selected and analyzed. The acupoints, treatment period, inclusion criteria of participants, follow-up period and effectiveness were extracted. Results: Three hundred fifty five records after duplicate were screened, and 14 RCTs were selected. RCTs of Hot flush, pain, fatigue were reviewed. The adverse symptoms using medical treatment in breast cancer patients were targets of acupuncture in RCTs. The acupuncture treatment was decreased the hot flush, pain and fatigue. However, the effect was not confirmed due to various study design. Conclusions: The analysis of the research would be conjugated to establish a basic knowledge of clinical practice guidelines. Well designed studies in Korea are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in patients with breast cancer.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
• /
• 제25권3호
• /
• pp.271-286
• /
• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical trial research trends in regards to the neurofeedback training (NFT) in Korean journals. Methods: We researched articles published in Korean journals from 2000 up to 2013 and were related to the NFT. We searched six electronic databases to find relevant articles, using the term 'neurofeedback'. Results: 1) 6 single group comparative studies and 31 randomized controlled trials were found. 2) Healthy volunteers and students were most frequently studied with neurofeedback training. Other studies included attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Poststroke, panic disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PDD), temporomendibular disorder (TMD), and obesity. NFT interventions were attempted in diverse training protocols and assessed with many different outcome measurements. 3) Most studies showed effective results after NFT. Conclusions: NFT is increasingly studied and used in various clinical fields. Also, there have been efforts to adopt NFT in Korean medical clinics and researches, and more rigorous and innovative studies are needed in the future.

• 대한한방소아과학회지
• /
• 제31권3호
• /
• pp.24-36
• /
• 2017

Objectives The purpose of this study is to provide clinical evidence of herbal medicine treatment for cerebral palsy by reviewing randomized controlled trials conducted in China. Methods We searched literatures dated up to 17 May, 2017 in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and evaluated methodological quality of those studies using 'Risk of Bias' tool. Results Sixteen studies were selected for analysis. These studies indicated that the total effective rate, motor function, self-care, muscle spasticity were significantly improved in the herbal medicine treatment group, as compared to the control group. The most-commonly-used herbs were Poria (茯?), Astragali Radix (黃?), Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草), and Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba (白朮). There were no serious adverse events found that were associated with herbal medicine treatment. The methodological quality of included studies was generally unclear or low. Conclusions This study shows that the herbal medicine treatment can be effective and safe in treating cerebral palsy. Further well-designed clinical trials with high methodological quality and appropriate assessment tools need to be performed to solidify these findings.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 대한핵의학회 1999년도 제38차 춘계학술대회
• /
• pp.228-241
• /
• 1999

Percutaneous coronary angioplasty is well established therapeutic modality in the management of coronary artery disease. However, the high restenosis rate of 30 to 50% limits its usefulness. The principal mechanism of restenosis, intimal hyperplasia, is the proliferative response of vessel wall to injury, which consists largely of smooth muscle cells. A large body of animal investigations and a limited number of clinical studies have established the ability of ionizing radiation to reduce neointimal proliferation and restenosis rate significantly. Human studies have been reported that intravascular radiation after first restenosis inhibits a second restenosis. Encouraged by these reports, we are also conducting a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial to evaluate this new therapeutic modality in patients with coronary artery stenosis. The objective of our trial is to determine the safety and efficacy of catheter-based solutional beta emitting radioisotope system in preventing restenosis after angioplasty. This review describes the vascular brachytherapy systems and isotopes that have been utilized in the initial clinical trials performed in this area of post PTCA coronary restenosis. The results of many worldwide ongoing clinical trials will determine whether this new technology will change the future practice of vascular intervention.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
• /
• 제2권2호
• /
• pp.45-51
• /
• 2014

Gastric cancer is the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Korea. Many cases of gastric cancer are detected in the early stages on standard medical examinations; complete surgical and endoscopic resection is the most recommended treatment for early-stage gastric cancer. Nevertheless, many patients have already progressed to advanced gastric cancer (AGC) upon diagnosis, and the prognosis of such patients is very poor. Combination chemotherapy has been shown to produce a better quality of life (QOL) and to increase overall survival in AGC patients. However, approximately 50% of patients do not respond to the current first-line chemotherapy, while most patients who do respond eventually show disease progression. Accordingly, various second-line regimens have been investigated, and active salvage chemotherapy has been shown to improve the QOL and clinical outcomes in select AGS patients who can tolerate it. There is also an increasing need for neoadjuvant therapy for treating gastric cancer; therefore, various clinical trials have been set up to investigate different regimens. Neoadjuvant therapy is currently established as the standard treatment for locally AGC in Europe; it has contributed to lowering the nodal stages and has reduced overall mortality rates. Despite these benefits, many uncertainties remain. Therefore, further prospective, high quality randomized controlled trials for neoadjuvant therapies are needed to clarify their clinical benefits and to establish the most effective treatment strategies for AGC.